Jordan Harrison breaks 15min 1500m barrier to claim swimming title

NEW Gold Coast distance star Jordan Harrison is better than Grant Hackett at the same age.

Guided by Hackett's coach Denis Cotterell at the same Gold Coast pool, Harrison last night became the second fastest 17-year-old in the history of the 1500m freestyle.

Harrison's 14min51.02sec is quicker than Hackett's 14:51.70 when he won the 1998 world championship in Perth.

The fastest time ever by a 17-year-old is still held by Kieren Perkins, who swam 14:50.58 at the 1991 world titles. Given Perkins and Hackett both won two Olympic titles in the 1500m freestyle, Harrison is a name to remember.

"I feel bad," Harrison said when told he had smashed Hackett's best time at the same age.

"I was stoked (with the time). I didn't think I was going to break 15 minutes. I'm just speechless.

"(Cotterell) doesn't like to compare exact times, he likes to compare training sets and says if you want to be like Grant at his best, when he broke world records, this is what you've got to do."

It was only three years ago that he decided he would like to pursue the gruelling distance event and now he is a rising star for the nation to follow for the next three years to the Rio Olympic Games.

Fellow 17-year-old Mack Horton broke the 15-minute barrier too but his time of 14:59.66 was 1.36sec off the qualifying time set by selectors.

Eleven swimmers came out of the Adelaide meeting ranked as the fastest in the world this year. Led by sprint stars James Magnussen, Cate Campbell and Christian Sprenger, Australia are in a strong positions heading towards the world titles in Barcelona, with enormous presence in the rankings after the national championships.

With the US the only powerhouse yet to post peak race times, Australia have 11 world No.1s, seven world No.2s and four world No.3s.